If you suffer from high blood pressure, there could be a solution to help lower it. Try taking sauna baths, because it could reduce your risk for hypertension, according to a new study.
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Researchers from a university in Finland conducted an experiment, recently published in American Journal of Hypertension, to determine how a trip to the heated room can affect the disease.
To do so, they studied about 1,600 men without an elevated blood pressure of over 140/90 mmHg and men who were diagnosed hypertension.
They then categorized the participants into three categories based on their bathing habits: those who take sauna baths once a week, two or three times a week or four to seven times a week.
During a 22-year follow-up, they found that about 15 percent of the men developed clinically defined hypertension.
They also discovered the risk of hypertension had decreased 24 percent among those who bathed two to three times a week. As for those who bathed four to seven times a week, chances of hypertension went down by 46 percent.
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According to the scientists, regular sauna bathing helps improve the function of the inside layer of blood vessels. Sweating also plays a role as it removes fluids from the body, which contributions of the reduction of blood pressure levels.
Plus, saunas also aid with the overall relaxation - another factor in reducing high blood pressure.
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